‘Tikusayi’ Demo: Organisers Impressed With Massive Turnout

Peter Boamah Otokunor is the Deputy General Secretary of the National Democratic Congress (NDC)

The leadership of the Inter-Party Resistance against a New Voters’ Register ( IPRNA) is awed with the massive turnout of people to the ‘Tikusayi’ demonstration in Tamale, Saturday.

“To say we are impressed with the number will be an understatement because if you look at the number of people that have poured onto the streets this morning, it’s overwhelming. We are indeed overwhelmed and that is what we wanted to achieve,” member of the group, Peter Boamah Otokunor who is also the Deputy General Secretary of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), told JoyNews.

The Inter-Party Resistance against a New Voters’ Register (IPRNA ) is a coalition of opposition parties including; the NDC, All People’s Congress (APC) and People’s National Convention (PNC).

They embarked on the demonstration to protest the Electoral Commission’s decision to compile a new voters’ register for the 2020 general elections.

Parliament late la st year approved the sum of GH¢444,846,663 for the election management body to compile a new voters’ register which is part of the Commissions activities ahead of the year 2020 general elections.

However, the group is unconvinced by the EC’s defence for the creation of a new register.

According to them, the use of tax payer’s money to compile a new voters’ register, after two Commissioners had earlier said the current electoral roll was credible, will be a waste of national resources and an attempt to perhaps, rig the 2020 elections.

According to Otokunor, the decision to hold the demonstration in the Northern region was significant, as the Northern region was one of the underdeveloped regions in the country.

The region lacks major basic amenities like roads, hospitals and schools as well as has a high number of unemployed youth.

The Deputy NDC General Secretary said the funds for the new voters’ registration exercise could instead be used to bring some sort of development to people from the north, including the completion of abandoned school projects among others.

“We wanted to make a very loud statement to the government and to the Electoral Commission, particularly because this is the Northern region and if you consider the northern part of the country that is where you see more of the underprivileged people.

“So, if you’re going to pay the limited taxpayers resources on a needless expedition then there will be a need for the people of the Northern region to make a very loud statement, and I think this is very significant owing to the fact that the EC and the government are playing recalcitrant in this matter.”

---Myjoyonline